Working with the one and only Barbara Bain and DB Sweeney, it is a dream? The first day we met with Ms. Bain about this festival, I was so excited I left one hour early to make sure I arrived on time and I got lost on the way. I was driving to a location I have driven to at least 50 times. To say I was excited is an understatement of gargantuan proportion. READ MORE
Les Hanson’s Gypsy Life with West Coast Ensemble
by Gary Ballard | May 12, 2011
Les Hanson, founding artistic director of West Coast Ensemble, is espousing the traditions of those wandering minstrels of yore with his next production. He opens Gypsy by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim at the Egyptian Arena Stage on May 13 under the direction of Richard Israel. READ MORE
Mitzi Gaynor: Still Razzle Dazzling
by Deborah Behrens | May 11, 2011
Going to Mitzi Gaynor’s home is like being invited over for a play date with your soon-to-be new best friend and her gal pals. Not only do Nellie Forbush and Ethel Merman make cameos but Lindsay Lohan and Grace Kelly likewise show up – sans BFF status. The 70-something triple threat entertainer is enjoying a career resurgence clad in new Bob Mackie couture created for her one-woman show, Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins, playing a double-header at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts on May 14. READ MORE
Connie Chats
by Connie Danese | May 11, 2011
Connie covers the Hollywood Bowl’s 90th season launch, talks with Coachella Valley Repertory’s artistic director Ron Celona about upcoming plans, plus comic Paul Rodriguez explains why his new one-man show is much better than people think. READ MORE
Simply Shakespeare Fundraiser Held at UCLA
by LA Stage Alliance | May 10, 2011
The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles held its 21st Annual Simply Shakespeare Fundraiser on Monday, May 9 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Among those reading from The Merry Wives of Windsor were Christina Applegate, Kenneth Branagh, Faith Hill, Eric Idle, Arte Johnson, Eugene Levy, Tim McGraw, William Shatner, Martin Short, Tracey Ullman and Co-Chairs Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks. Special musical guests included Reba McEntire, Sara Wakins, Sean Watkins and Chris Wilson. READ MORE
My Love Affair with Horton Foote
by Brenda Ballard | May 10, 2011
My love affair with Horton Foote began in 1990. My husband knew of it and supported my choice to go after Mr. Foote. Well, not Mr. Foote himself but his plays. I didn’t know anything about Horton’s plays until as a member of The Actors Co-op of Hollywood, auditions were announced for The Traveling Lady. From page one of the text I was hooked. I fell in love with the characters of Harrison, Texas. I knew these folks and knew I had to be a part of the cast. READ MORE
Anna Khaja an Outsider in Wendy Graf’s New Play
by Cynthia Citron | May 9, 2011
“All theater is a character telling a story—as if he were sitting around a campfire.” Playwright Wendy Graf is sitting around a table at a cafe in Burbank as she quotes iconic director Gordon Davidson. “And so what I’ve done is create a story especially for Anna.” To which Anna Khaja, sitting at the same table, responds, “You don’t choose the story, the story chooses you.” READ MORE
It’s Not Your Grandmother’s Anne of Green Gables
by Gigi Bermingham | May 6, 2011
I’ve been hoping to do a show here at MainStreet ever since an actor friend told me working here was the best theatrical experience she’d ever had. I thought, “Really? With a children’s theater company?” And yet I was intrigued. READ MORE
LA STAGE INSIDER
by Julio Martinez | May 5, 2011
INSIDER kudos to Pasadena Playhouse and CTG productions nominated for Tony Awards nominations. The Troubies fly with Aristophanes’ The Birds at Getty Villa; and a look back at the history of Yiddish theater and cabaret in LA. READ MORE
The Au Pair Man Suits Celtic Arts Return
by Joe Praml | May 5, 2011
Every actor has a list of roles he’d like to act and every director has a list of plays he’d like to direct. After reading Hugh Leonard’s The Au Pair Man about 20 years ago, I put it on my imaginary List of Plays I’d Like to do Some Day If I Ever Have the Chance. READ MORE
Playwrights’ Arena Award Renamed in Honor of Lee Melville
by Steve Julian | May 4, 2011
When Lee Melville smiles, his eyes beat him to it. The Editor-in-Chief of this publication, LA STAGE Times, smiles frequently as he reminisces over his 50-year career in theater: actor, stage manager, producer, critic, editor. His outstanding contributions to theater, principally in Los Angeles, prompted Playwrights’ Arena Artistic Director Jon Lawrence Rivera this year to rename the company’s prestigious award after Melville. READ MORE
21 Journalists Chosen for Fellowships to USC Annenberg’s NEA Theater Institute
by LA Stage Alliance | May 4, 2011
Twenty-one arts journalists from 13 states have been chosen to participate as fellows in USC Annenberg’s seventh National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Fellows include theater critics, reporters, editors and general arts & entertainment journalists. The Institute will be held in Los Angeles from June 13 to 22, with the generous support of the NEA. READ MORE
